As I previously mentioned, we went on our Super Jeep excursion on the Icelandic holiday known as the First Day of Summer. It turns out that Icelanders celebrate that event twice every year, the second time being the 1st of May, a national holiday throughout most of Europe, known as “May Day.” This year, May Day fell on a Wednesday.

We set out from our hotel near Glacier Lagoon on our all day drive along the Eastfjord (or Austfirðir) leg of the Ring Road around 7:00 am, before the hotel restaurant opened. Our plan was to stop at the port town of Höfn for coffee.

I assumed that the lack of traffic on the road to Höfn was due to the early hour. For the first 20 miles of our drive, we only passed six other cars. There was so little traffic that a herd of reindeer leisurely crossed the road in front of us.

But getting back to Höfn and our search for coffee. We stopped at several gas stations in Höfn, only to find they were all closed. Then we tried the door of a small cafe, Kaffi Hornid. Also closed. But as I was getting back into the car, the cafe door opened and a woman called out to us, “Are you looking for coffee?” Life saver!

Talking as she worked the espresso machine, we discovered she was the owner of the cafe and a native Icelander, having grown up in a small Eastfjord village to the north. I should mention here that all the native Icelanders we have encountered on this trip have been genuinely friendly and helpful people.

Tourism is a relatively recent boon to the Icelandic economy and the locals appreciate travelers and treat them warmly. But the native population is small and the younger generations are not anxious to work in tourism, so service labor has to be brought in from abroad. Most of these workers come primarily from Poland and other former Eastern European countries where tourism and “service with a smile” is still a work in progress.

I’m not saying that having foreign workers is a problem, but it is noticeable. For example, while at Fosshotel Glacier, which I would compare to a Marriott, I asked a bartender if he knew what a particular Icelandic word meant. He said he was from Poland and didn’t speak Icelandic, so I asked him to point me to someone else who did. He responded by saying that the only worker in the hotel who spoke Icelandic was the manager, but she was out for the day.

Back to our travels. Altogether, we drove 275 miles this May Day through the Eastfjords to the town of Egilsstaðir, the only city of size in eastern Iceland.

The photo below, taken through the car’s windshield, is near the first fjord (“fjörður”) we came upon, Lönsfjörður:

Here’s a closer look, without the limiting effect of the windshield.

The photo, below, was taken as we rounded the point on our way into the Álftafjörður:

A little further along, I stopped and took pictures back toward the west…

… and then from the same spot, toward the east:

The next fjord was Hamarsfjörður. We saw more reindeer here. As it turns out, there were attempts in the 1700s to introduce reindeer herds in Iceland (reindeer are not endemic to Iceland), but only the herds in the Eastfjords have endured.

Just beyond Hamarsfjörður, we entered the fishing village of Djúpivogur, population 500.

I don’t know the elf population here, but we did find one of their settlements.

This village church is typical of those we saw along the southern coast, nearly all of which are located on farmsteads.

Our main reason for stopping in Djúpivogur was to visit JFS Handcrafts & Stone Garden. The proprietor, Jón, a former fisherman, is a very enthusiastic rock collector. His yard is loaded with specimens he has picked up during his travels which he proudly shows to visitors.

He has a workshop and a little store next to his house where he cuts and polishes his finds and sells some of his family’s craftworks. Like the owner of the cafe in Höfn, Jón went out of his way to be warm and friendly.

The next fjord we drove around was Berufjörður. Again, this photo is through the windshield which dulls the colors, but you can get a feel for the place.

We drove along the perimeter of a few more fjords before heading inland through the Fáskrúðsfjarðargöng, a 3.6 mile long tunnel connecting two fjords, the Reyðarfjörður and the Fáskrúðsfjörður.

After the tunnel, the road climbs and the terrain becomes more mountainous and, at this time of year, wintery.

Our final destination was the town of Egilsstaðir. Just north of town are the Vök Baths where we stopped for a dip in the thermal pools before checking into our lodging for the night, Hotel 1001 Nott.

The pools are progressively warmer until you arrive at the one near the lake’s edge. A handful of people took the plunge from the hottest pool into the lake, which is 3°C, that is, 37°F.

But not me.